Estelle Freedman examines the politics of sexual violence

On Aug. 19, 2012, Rep. Todd
Akin of Missouri discussed "legitimate rape" during a television
interview as part of his bid for Senate.

The term ignited a
political firestorm, inviting a denouncement from President Barack
Obama, who declared that "rape is rape" and there was no need to "be
parsing and qualifying and slicing" the term....

These incidents were only
more recent manifestations of a political tug-of-war dating to the
beginning of American history: what does "rape" mean and who gets to
define it?

Contrary to what many think, the decades-long story is
not one of progressive liberalization, but rather "one of repeated
contestations over power, played out through sexual categories, laws and
prosecution," says Stanford historian Estelle Freedman.